The Rundown: February 21, 2018

Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.

In case you missed it, we have full stories up on Marvel’s latest relaunch, “A Fresh Start,” along with details on the first two announced series: Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’s “Avengers,” and Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s “Venom.” We also covered Mark Russell and Max Dunbar’s four-issue “Judge Dredd: Under Siege” mini for IDW, Benjamin Percy and Christopher Mooneyham taking over “Nightwing” with #44, and Dark Horse’s new “Modern Fantasy” series from writer/artist Kristen Gudsnuk. And as an addendum to Marvel’s big announcements, Marvel SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort clarified that they would maintain dual numbering for books that restored their old issue counts as part of last year’s Legacy publishing initiative, which is sure to be only mildly more confusing.

It was a big comic news day, so let’s get to some of the other stories…

– The unfinished third volume of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” published in the mid-’90s by Image Comics, is finally going to get a conclusion thanks to IDW. The original 23-issue run will be re-released as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Urban Legends,” in color for the first time by Adam Guzowski. Then, the original creative team of Gary Carlson and Frank Fosco will return for the final three issues. The first issue will debut on May 16.

– Dynamite had a pair of new series announcements as well yesterday. First up, Gail Simone and Walter Geovani are returning to Red Sonja for a “Red Sonja/Tarzan” crossover mini-series. They also announced the next Sherlock Holmes series: “Sherlock Holmes: The Vanishing Man” by writers Leah Moore & John Reppion, with art by Julius Ohta. Both series start in May.

– It looks like DC is doing a little spring cleaning in preparation for their post-“Dark Nights: Metal” universe. Yesterday’s solicits hinted at several books being canceled, which were then confirmed by the creators. On the chopping block so far are “Super Sons,”“Supergirl,”“Batgirl and the Birds of Prey,” and while it’s not part of Rebirth, “Bombshells” is also entering its final arc.

– Elasti-Girl has been cast for Titans, the upcoming series that will debut on DC’s new streaming service. Drop Dead Diva actress April Bowlby will play Rita Farr, who is part of the Doom Patrol alongside the already cast Bruno Bichir as Dr. Niles Caulder. The series is set to debut sometime this year.

– Netflix’s Riverdale companion, Sabrina, has found its Aunt Zelda in Miranda Otto, who is best known for portraying Éowyn in The Lord of the Rings. Otto joins Lucy Davis as Aunt Hilda and Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina. The new show will be closer to the darker “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” than the lighthearted 90s iteration of the character.

– Thor: Ragnarok writer Eric Pearson has been hired to rewrite the upcoming film adaptation of A.J. Lieberman and Riley Rossmo’s “Cowboy Ninja Viking.” This will be the third iteration of the script, originally by Paul Wernick & David Reese. The film will star Chris Pratt, with Game of Thrones, Westworld, and The Walking Dead director Michelle MacLaren in the director’s chair.

– Cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt is partnering with Girls Trip breakout star Tiffany Haddish for Tuca & Bertie, a 10-episode animated series on Netflix. Hanawalt has worked on Bojack Horseman since it began, and the new show looks like it will explore similar territory. The show’s premise is “a comedy about the friendship between two 30-year-old bird women who live in the same apartment building: Tuca, a cocky, care-free toucan (Haddish), and Bertie, an anxious, daydreaming songbird.”

– “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” is being adapted as an animated series for Disney by Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland’s Cinema Gypsy Productions. No details are known at this time, including which of Disney’s outlets it would air on.

– Black Panther is breaking all kinds of box office records after the updated Presidents’ Day numbers have come in. The film’s four-day take was $242 million, which makes it the biggest Presidents’ Day opening ever, and only second to Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($288.1 million) for biggest four-day opening in any week. In addition, Black Panther scored the biggest Monday in history with $40.2 million. The $242 million in four days also easily beats Justice League‘s entire domestic box office gross of $228.8 million.

Continued below

– Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) is participating in a fundraiser where people who donate have a chance to win tickets to L.A., where they will drink tea with Cumberbatch and attend the Avengers: Infinity War premiere. The fundraiser benefits GEANCO, an organization that helps people in Nigeria by providing “life-changing scholarships to young female victims of terrorism and gender inequality, orthopedic surgeries to those in desperate need, and maternal and infant health programs.”

– DC co-publisher Dan DiDio dropped a teaser on Facebook for the “MAD Magazine” relaunch coming in April. The magazine is getting a “re-jiggering” after getting a new executive editor and making the move from New York to Burbank to join DC proper.

– Image Expo starts today, and that has caused “Image+” #7 to be delayed until next month to avoid spoiling the announcements. The periodical just recently changed editors, after David Brothers left the company and was replaced by Sean Edgar.

– Dark Horse announced that it is handing out promotions to some of its editorial staff. Spencer Cushing, Shantel LaRoque, and Ian Tucker have all been given the title of Editor, while Megan Walker is now an Associate Editor.

– Car-soccer video game, Rocket League, is getting some DC Comics themed DLC on March 5th. The $4 DLC will contain a whole roster of Justice League inspired cars, including the batmobile seen in Batman (1989) and the Tumbler from The Dark Knight.

– An animated film version of Colombian-Ecuadorian cartoonist Power Paola’s memoir, “Virus Tropical,” debuted at the Berlin Film Festival. The 96-minute film, which is in black-and-white, will be screened next at South by Southwest (SXSW) in March.

– Meanwhile in Malaysia, cartoonist Fahmi Reza has been fined and jailed for a month after his depiction of Prime Minister Najib Razak as a clown went viral during protests in 2015. Fahmi was arrested in 2016 along many other activists and opposition leaders for protesting Najib’s handling of a financial scandal involving an investment fund he founded. Fahmi’s lawyer told the AFP he was “disappointed” by the decision and would appeal: Fahmi is also facing a second charge of breaking laws banning the spread of offensive online material.

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Justin Beeson

Justin Beeson is a dad, husband, DevOps engineer, and comic book and Android enthusiast. He covers news, TV, and does the occasional review at Multiversity Comics, and can be found on Twitter at @thisJUSTin816.

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